


Corn Maze

by livingthroughchoices



Category: Perfect Match (Visual Novel)
Genre: Established Relationship, F/M, Fluff and Angst, One Shot, autumn prompts
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-17
Updated: 2019-07-17
Packaged: 2020-06-30 06:32:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,047
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19847515
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/livingthroughchoices/pseuds/livingthroughchoices
Summary: The gang goes to a Harvest Festival.





	Corn Maze

**Author's Note:**

> This is a quick one-shot from my list of Autumn Prompts on Tumblr.
> 
> Tumblr: livingthroughchoices.tumblr.com
> 
> Enjoy!

It was hard to believe it had been only a few weeks since she and Hayden had made it “official”. Freya was over the moon. All their many evil deeds aside, she had to admit that Eros did an amazingly accurate job of her Match; Hayden was everything she could want in a partner. Well… almost everything.

She hated to admit it, but their fledgling relationship was off to a rocky start. It was hard to say what was wrong; they both deeply cared about each other, that much was clear. It was more to do with Hayden’s… unique circumstances than anything else. Ever since he’d found out he was a Match he’d been having trouble coming to terms with it. Not that she blamed him! She couldn’t imagine what it would feel like to realize all your past memories and most of your loved ones were fake. The very thought made her heart ache for Hayden and tears pricked her eyes.

She heaved out a long exhale. This day was supposed to be about him making some of those memories true; it was definitely not the time to be moping for her robot boyfriend. Still, with a squeeze to his hand, she couldn’t help hoping that she could gradually help him overcome this, so that they may be closer. She was tired of being held at arms’ length.

She smiled up at him.

“So, what do you think of your first Harvest Festival so far?”

His lips quirked up, but it didn’t reach his eyes.

“Well, it doesn’t _feel_ like my first…” 

Her face fell and he quickly added, “But it’s been great so far! I love it!”

“Hayden, you don’t have to pretend with me.”

He sighed, “I know, I know, I just… I want to move past this. For you.”

They’d stopped and had turned to face each other, both their hands intertwined.

“And of course I want that too but you can’t rush this. It’ll take time.”

He nodded and gestured for them to keep walking, their friends having gone on ahead. They spent a few moments in silence, until Hayden perked up.

“Hey! Is that a corn maze?”

“Looks like it! Do you… want to go in?” Freya asked, hesitant.

Sometimes she wasn’t sure whether he wanted to overwrite his old fake memories or not. Either way, her brilliant idea to come to the Festival had only seemed to make him more angsty.

“Absolutely! It’ll be my first time in one – fake or not!”

Hayden looked as excited as a puppy going on a walk.

“Then what are we waiting for!” Freya dragged him over to his friends. “Guys! We’re going in the corn maze! Hayden has zero memories of being in a corn maze.”

Some agreed more enthusiastically than others, but in the end they all walked over to the entrance.

“First couple to the center wins!” yelled Nadia. She jumped on Steve’s back; he caught her as if he’d been expecting it. “Onwards!” She pointed towards the maze and off they went.

“Hey, that’s cheating!” called Damien after them. “Come on, Sloane! What’re you waiting for?!”

“I’m calculating some of the variab–”

“No time!” Damien pushed her in after Nadia and Steve. 

Freya turned to Hayden. “Ready?”

He linked their hands in lieu of a response and strolled into the maze with her.

“Not really worried about winning?”

“Oh, we’re definitely gonna win.”

She chuckled, “At this pace, I wouldn’t count on it!”

They kept up the same leisurely stroll for the next ten minutes, taking wrong turns every other turn. Freya could not stop laughing.

“ _How_ are you so bad at this?” she said, sniffing. 

Hayden snorted as they hit another wrong turn. “I don’t see you leading the way, Lewis and Clark.”

“Well, maybe I should be leading or we might die out here!”

“You’re right. I can already feel the hunger… right… here.” He tickled her stomach with one hand, his other hand holding hers in an iron grip so she couldn’t stop him.

“St-stop! My stomach h-hurts!” she shrieked.

He let go of her and she punched his arm with all her strength, knowing there was nothing she could do that would actually hurt him.

“Oh so it’s like that, huh?”

As he prepared for another attack, they heard Damien’s triumphant voice, “Yes! We’re almost there, Sloane, I can feel it. Suck it, Nadia!”

Freya shook her head, but before she could do much more, Hayden had picked her up like she weighed no more than a pillow and swung her over her shoulder.

“What– Hayden, what are you doing? Put me down!” she giggled.

“We have a competition to win.”

With that, Hayden rushed through the maze, picking the right turn every time with no hesitation, until he deposited her in the center of the maze.

Just then, Steve caught up, still carrying Nadia. He was all sweaty, but grinning nonetheless.

“Aw, I’m sorry we lost, baby.”

“That’s okay!” said Nadia as she dismounted. “I had fun.” She pecked him sweetly on the lips.

Damien and Sloane sprinted out a few seconds later.

“What! How did you make it here so fast?!” asked Damien.

Sloane groaned. “I should’ve thought of this.”

“Thought of what?”

“Matches the ability to map out places in their minds much more effectively than the rest of us… I assume carrying Nadia put Steve at a slight disadvantage.”

Nadia pouted apologetically and Steve kissed the top of her head.

“Wait… so that entire time when you were taking wrong turns…” said Freya slowly.

Hayden gave her a rueful smile. “I was pretending.”

Freya crossed her arms, “I told you, you don’t have to–”

“But I wanted to.” He took her arms and uncrossed them, enjoying the smile that was spreading on her face. “I wanted to spend more time with you in there, just the two of us.”

“Well, isn’t that sweet.” She stood up on her tiptoes and kissed him.

“Aw, you guys!” Nadia squealed. “Group hug!”

Nadia barreled into Freya and put her arms around her as far as they would reach. Steve immediately followed. Sloane put her arms around Hayden a little awkwardly, and after some persuasion even Damien joined in.

 _We’re going to be okay_ , Freya thought.


End file.
